Behavioral Modification Systems

Goodness, that sounds so daunting, doesn't it? No, no, I'm not putting my sweet little Boobah through serious boot camps or brainwashing his yet-to-fully-develop little mind.. Okay wait, maybe I am brainwashing him, but in no sinister way whatsoever. On Monday I decided it is time to start with the daunting task of Potty Training. That which most moms of two-year olds dread. But I have decided that we will start this process in a fun manner. With Sticker Charts. I googled some ideas and found a couple of sites with the coolest sticker sheets made specially for potty training tots. Fortunately, I also had loads of sticker books (bought on impulse from BidOrBuy more than a year ago) that would assist with this process. After sitting Boobah down and explaining to him how this game works, he took to the idea like a fish to water. We have been having loads of fun running to the potty and making a wee, then wiping the bum, flushing the contents, putting the nappy back on, washing hands and finally, FINALLY sticking the sticker on the pretty colorful sheet that I stuck on the wall just above the potty. Boobah did real good last night, and managed to collect 3 (yes THREE) Spongebob Square Pants stickers for potty business before bed time. At the moment there is no set amount of times he has to go or stickers to collect for a prize or anything. I just told him that at the end of the week, if he got stickers every day, we'll go to the Ice Cream shop and he can choose whatever ice-cream he feels like.

 

Also, before it gets too costly for my pocket, I'll only buy him a big present (big in his eyes) at the end of each month, if he got stickers everyday for the whole month. I know it's only been two days, but so far it seems though this is working out for him. I just hope The Dad's mother follows through on my carefully-thought-out plan. Otherwise she'll just screw my kid up and he will get confused and not like the game anymore.

 

In other news, I got the biggest compliment last night from my blue-eyed wonder…. We were having a bath and I asked him if mommy smells stink. "No". Does mommy smell nice? "No" So what does mommy smell like then? "Tractor Tom" Now, most people probably won't understand why this would be a compliment, but TT is Boobah's favoritest toy/character/thing in the whole wide world (then Lighting McQueen), so to be compared to him is amazing. It means that I rank there, at the top of all things WOW on Boobah's list of Coolest Things in the World.

 

Our latest favorite thing to do is watch TV in bed. Or so Boobah calls it. Actually, what we do is watch whole TV Series' (thanks nerdy neighbor, who set up the wireless connection to your whole home network setup you've got going there, to allow me to copy all kinds of cool stuff you download) on my Mac in bed. We put the heater on in the room, get under the covers and just watch TV. Now and then, if our Vodacom tower is in working order, I'll browse YouTube for classic cartoon episodes (like Bananas in Pajamas, or Animaniacs or something) just for something different.

 

That is currently the bestest times I'm having with my Baby Person, bonding and just being with him.